ROHNERT PARK, CA – Anyone that could possibly say the North Coast Section Division III quarterfinal matchup between host and No. 3 seed Rancho Cotate and No. 6 seed Eureka didn’t have more ups and downs, bumps, and twists and turns than an amusement park roller-coaster ride was not at Friday night’s matchup. That’s because as high school football games go it was that and much more.
Senior quarterback Jake Simmons has been a local hero for the past two seasons, and the 6-1, 190-pound senior quarterback more than did his part by having a hand in all five Cougars TDs, but the real hero of the Rancho Cotate 38-35 victory was kicker Andrew Alfarro.
When Rancho Cotate’s Brandon Slate recovered the ball after Alfarro had a 30-yard field goal attempt on third down blocked with 23.6 seconds remaining by a Eureka line that was surging all night on both sides of the line of scrimmage, the 5-11, 170-pound junior got a second chance and he made the most of it by drilling a 42-yarder with 11.6 seconds left for the game winner.
Eureka still had a last gasp after getting the kickoff out to the 35-yard line, but with only time for one play that involved three laterals didn’t work, time expired and the Rancho Cotate students stormed the field in celebration.
“After it was blocked there was really nothing going through my head,” said Alfarro who still seemed a bit stunned as his friends were mobbing him. “But when coach said get back on the field and do it one more time that’s when I started to focus again.”
Focus indeed. With perfect form Alfarro hammered it and split the uprights right down the middle with a few yards to spare. It was the second-longest field goal of his career with a high of 44-yards.
“Yes, I purposely kicked on third down because we thought, bad snap, bad hold but we never planned on having it blocked,” said Rancho Cotate first-year Coach Gehrig Hotaling.
The ending was not without some controversy. With Hotaling having no time outs and screaming for his team to get set up for Alfarro’s second attempt the referee interceded.
“We got set up to kick real quickly but the ref told us to take our time it was a dead ball and clock stopped,” Hotaling said.
Eureka complained to the officials after the game that the clock should have run.
When queried about Eureka’s complaint some time after the game Hotaling wrote in a text message that he and his staff were “looking at the rule book in the office after the game and it seems like they (officials) called it correct at the end, but either way we were ready to kick again.”
Maybe so, but being harried with time running out from 42-yards away is a lot different situation than what Alfarro ended up with.
According to Prep2Prep senior contributor and football analyst Nate Smith, who has coached at the high school and college levels, there can be times when the clock stops after a third down play ends inbounds.
“When a team is in a kicking formation different rules apply,” Smith said and continued. “There are certain rules where exceptions are made when teams are in a kicking situation, but once the referee told Hotaling to relax and the clock was stopped from that point on nothing can be done.”
The wild finish began when the Rancho Cotate defense got Simmons the ball back with the Cougars trailing 35-28 and just 2:43 to go in the game.
“That’s all (the time) I need,” Simmons shouted to his offense as they went back on the field.
True to his words the Rancho Cotate signal-caller then proceeded to lead the Cougars on a 10-play, 77-yard drive that culminated in a 20-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Logan Reese with 53.3 seconds left.
With the score tied and Eureka getting the ball on a touchback at the 20, it was looking like overtime was staring everyone in the face, so the fact Alfarro even lined up once to try and boot a winner is just one piece of a strange saga.
Rather than accept overtime outright Loggers Coach Jason White gambled one too many times. Quarterback Cruz Montana was asked to call one of the deception plays White had used successfully during the game but this time it unraveled. Montana faked a reverse then pitched it to Alex Miller who fumbled the pitch and Rancho Cotate’s Cyrus Hernandez recovered the ball at the 19 of Eureka.
After three plays including the fourth sack on Simmons made this time by a fired up Miller, it was put to the foot of Alfarro.
“There were probably eight crazy plays in the game and six of them went our way,” Hotaling remarked.
After a shaky start on its first series Eureka punted and Simmons wasted little time getting the Cougars busy on offense. Sophomore running back Rasheed Rankin (eight carries, 71 yards rushing) had a 35-yard burst on the first play from scrimmage Simmons finished a 3-play, 52-yard drive with a 13-yard TD run to make it 7-0.
Eureka (11-1) gave an indication of what was to come on its second drive when Montana orchestrated a 9-play, 74-yard drive that culminated when senior Sergio Manzo (23 carries, 120 yards rushing, one TD) took it in from 4-yards out to knot things at 7-7.
Simmons answered with a 71-yard TD pass to Jaelen Ward (four catches, 91 yards receiving, one TD) and the Cougars led 14-7 after one quarter.
On the ensuing drive Montana took the Loggers 80-yards and scored himself on a 4-yard keeper but the PAT failed and it was 14-13.
Back and forth they went as Simmons only needed two plays to find Reese on the first of his three touchdown receptions on the night with this one going 75-yards to give the Cougars a 21-13 lead.
Eureka then ran off 14 plays but faltered at the Rancho Cotate 24 yard line and turned it over on downs.
Simmons got the Cougars rolling again and it was looking like they might take a two touchdown lead into halftime, but in the last two minutes of the half and in a strange twist of events they became uncorked. After three straight completions by Simmons got the ball to the Loggers 48, he had two passes go awry.
On third-and-10 Simmons dropped back and then started to scramble but got stripped of the ball. Tyce Mullins recovered for Eureka and took it 48-yards to the house. Lamarie Dunn ran in the 2-point conversion and all of a sudden it was tied 21-21 with 1:19 left in the half
That was not the end of it. Rancho Cotate (10-1) got the ball after a touchback but instead of going conservative and trying to get to the locker room and regroup Hotaling gambled by choosing to try and get the ball downfield and it didn’t work.
After a three-and-out Simmons dropped back to punt. He uses a short drop and then runs to his right as he punts. On this occasion the Eureka line broke through and any one of four players that got through may have blocked it but Miller recovered it in the end zone and although another PAT failed the Loggers had a 27-21 halftime lead.
Simmons threw an interception to end a long drive to open the third quarter and Montana was sacked to end the visitors’ first drive of the second half. On the next possession the Cougars took a 28-27 lead when Simmons connected with Reese for an 11-yard TD pass but Montana answered back when he hooked up with Isley Tulmau on a 53-yard TD pass, and when Manzo ran in the 2-point conversion Eureka had a 35-28 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The defense held Eureka scoreless in the fourth quarter and Simmons, Reese and finally Alfarro sealed the deal.
Simmons finished 17 of 27 passing for 291 yards and four TDs, and he had the one TD rushing but only gained 26 yards after being sacked four times by the aggressive Eureka defense. He also had the one interception and two fumbles with one that wasn’t lost. Reese was hounded all game by a solid Loggers secondary, and even got shaken up and had to come out of the game but returned four plays later to catch the TD pass that created the 35-35 tie. He had seven catches for 185 yards and three touchdowns.
Montana, the son of former Eureka head coach and current assistant Garrett Montana, played his heart out as did all the Loggers players. The 6-1, 170-pound junior passed for 110 yards with the one TD but his rushing yardage was limited by two sacks and he finished with 28 yards on seven carries with the one rushing score.
“We thought we could put them in adversity but hats off to them, they’re a good team,” Hotaling said.
With students and fans surrounding the team meeting on the field after the game Hotaling was just as charged up as the Cougars supporters and his team
“It’s unreal what you guys did fighting and coming back. A total team effort,” Hotaling told the boys.
Another total team effort is what it will be take when Rancho Cotate and Cardinal Newman square off in the NCS D3 semifinals and a rubber match next Friday night at Santa Rosa Junior College.
“We know what’s ahead of us,” continued Hotaling to the team. “One more game to get to the championship.”
